A supposedly scientific expedition into the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve (ndbr) has stirred the minds of people in Lata village of district Chamoli, in Uttaranchal. They say the expedition was a farce. They claim it was a surreptitious attempt to open the region to high-end tourism with tour operators and touts in the cities minting money at the expense of local communities. The Bhotias of Lata and nearby villages refuse to be sold down the river by the unholy nexus of politicians, bureaucrats and business persons.

"We lost out in 1962 when the India-China war put an end to cross-border trade